After two episodes, society is starting to fall and it’s finally starting to look like the Zombie Apocalypse has actually arrived.
But that doesn’t mean much of anything happened in the second episode of Fear the Walking Dead. In So Close, Yet So Far, aftershocks are still being felt. While there are only a few people who seem to know the truth, it’s business as usual for everyone else.

No one seems to believe either side of this split family. It doesn’t help that Madison (played by Kim Dickens) and Travis (Cliff Curtis) have absolutely ZERO communication skills. They refuse even attempting to explain what’s happening to their kids. Their only form of communication seems to be, “Don’t go.” Cut scene.

Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is painfully annoying, as the know-it-all teenager, who actually doesn’t have a clue. Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) is the apathetic teenager who’d rather put himself in the line of fire, than answer his father’s phone calls. Both of these characters can’t seem to get bitten fast enough. But it’s Nick (Frank Dillane), who witnessed Patient Zero in the pilot, who questions his every-day reality, as he attempts to quit heroin cold turkey. He’s the character who we’re rooting for the most. He seems to be the main person who wants to get away… but he can barely move, in his state.

Oblivious to what’s happening around them, only Tobias (Lincoln A. Castellanos) has his eyes wide open. He’s the student who predicted the outbreak. he’s also the only character smart enough to stock up on food supplies, for the long haul. His character seems to be taking on the narrator role, although he, too, lacks common sense. When approached by the principal-turned-walker, he and Maddie flee after putting the undead creature down, leaving a huge stash of food near the school’s exit. Here’s to hoping Tobias eventually joins up with the rest of the crew.

After two episodes, there’s a lack of urgency by all the main players. That’s a shame, because the purpose of this episode is a full 180 from the pilot. After all they’ve seen, nobody’s armed yet and nobody’s stocking up on supplies, either (other than medicine). There’s unrest in the streets and suburbia has finally gotten infected. So, that means half the family will be fleeing into the desert — hopefully very soon — while the other half of the group is locked up in a downtown barber shop, with a family of strangers.

Clearly there’s a lack of communication between this large group of parents and children, but with the slow pace of each episode paired with the kids being smarter than the adults, there’s been plenty of online commentary rooting for the walkers to kill more than a few of these main characters. Sadly, we can’t disagree with them. We get it already. Society is falling, but can’t we move the story any quicker? These two episodes felt like they could’ve been combined because nothing, really, has happened so far. And now there will be a two-week wait for the third episode to finally air. Many fans are restless, including us. Can’t we hit fast forward on this series’ direction and move it along?

If there was a lack of diversity in The Walking Dead, there’s plenty of it in Fear. Casting couch news aside, the story feels like it’s only creeping along, with a very slow-paced storytelling style that’s much slower than Fank Darabont’s original vision. This episode is slightly better than the pilot, but only because a little more of the overall story was revealed. There’s still a lot lacking in almost every category.

Strength: The big picture is finally being revealed…Weakness: Too bad it’s slowly unfolding, with very few walkers.WTF Moment: Ofelia Salazar (Mercedes Mason) is briefly introduced, looking like each teenager will be paired up with another, of the opposite sex. Cue the dramatic soap-opera music.

Notable Quotes:
– “Dead again?”
– “I’ve seen what people do.”
– “When civilization ends, it ends fast.”
– “I’m about to step into… a world of shit.”
– “It’s just like no one is paying attention.”
– “The desert will be safer because things will fall apart now.”